Prime Minister Albin Kurti stated that during his stay in Bucharest at the conference of the Party of European Socialists (PES), he invited European officials to support Kosovo on its journey towards the Council of Europe, especially in the upcoming vote on April 16 in the Parliamentary Assembly.
“Productive visit, not only to strengthen cooperation with our closest friends and allies but also to be more inspired by our values, broaden our knowledge, and commit to our future,” Kurti wrote on Facebook.
He expressed pleasure in returning among friends in the large European Social Democrat family.
“This time, the next conference of the Party of European Socialists (PES) was in the beautiful city of Bucharest. We know Bucharest well as a city that has historically been an important center of the Albanian National Renaissance, a place where Albanian intellectuals freely developed national thought. As we are two months away from the European elections, this meeting was of great importance for strengthening coordination among us,” Kurti emphasized.
Furthermore, the prime minister said that social democracy carries ideas, tradition, and values to protect and develop democracy and Europeanism, at a time when “they are endangered by autocratic forces and regimes aiming to weaken the European Union.”
Kurti mentioned that during his stay at the PES conference, among representatives of different parties, he participated in a reception with Romania’s Prime Minister, Marcel Ciolacu.
“At the conference and its sidelines, we conversed and also had the pleasure to be in the presence of the European Commissioner and PES’s unanimous candidate for President of the European Commission, Nicolas Schmit, PES chairman and former Prime Minister of Sweden Stefan Löfven, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Vice-President of the European Parliament Katarina Barley, Chair of the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) in the European Parliament, Iratxe Garcia Pérez, and many other representatives from PES member parties,” Kurti added.
He mentioned that his stay in Romania was also spent in the company of two representatives of the Albanian diaspora in Romania: the vice-president of the “League of Albanians of Romania” (ALAR) Luan Topçiu, and the doctor of science and engineering metallurgy, Përparim Demi.
“We visited the traces of our Renaissance figures and national patriots within the city. From the commemorative plaque of the ‘Saint Nicholas’ church marking the first Mass in Albanian by the Renaissance figure Fan S. Noli in 1911, to Herastrau Park where the bust of our great poet, Naim Frashëri, is located not far from that of Victor Hugo.
We also visited the bust of Ismail Qemali at the ‘Grand Hotel Continental’ where on November 5, 1912, he met with Luigj Gurakuqi and other patriots before the declaration of Albania’s Independence in Vlorë,” Kurti highlighted.
